Related Links

Well, today, February 5th, is National Weatherman's Day. I'm not so sure of the origin of this day. No one is. Apparently a man by the name of John Jeffries is considered one of our first weathermen. Jeffries was born on this date in 1744. He kept weather records from 1774 to 1816. I cannot find much about this man. Most of the references claim he was born in 1745 and not 1744. There is a John Jeffries House in Boston. You can stay there if you are visiting Boston and want to be in the Beacon Hill district. The house also provides rooms for patients and families attending to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr John Jeffries and Dr. Edward Reynolds founded the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in October of 1824. This clinic was free to Boston's poor citizens. This may have been the son of Dr. John Jeffries who was also a Boston physician and lived from 1745 - 1819. Born American, Jeffries flew in a balloon across the English Channel in 1785. Some argue he was the first American to fly. Since flying and meteorology are intertwined I think this might be our guy. Jeffries was quoted as saying ballooning could "lead...to a full investigation of the nature and properties of the atmosphere". Little did he know that we would launch weather balloons into the atmosphere to help us forecast the weather.